No. 11 MSU baseball team will take on South Alabama tonight

From Special Reports

April 18, 2017 9:35:24 AM

MOBILE, Ala. -- The No. 11 Mississippi State baseball team will close its four-game road trip at 6:30 tonight against South Alabama at Stanky Field.

MSU (25-13) has won a non-conference game in each of the last three weeks en route to a 13-3 record in its last 16 games. It has won 10 of its last 12 Southeastern Conference games and four-straight SEC series (Tennessee, at Ole Miss, Kentucky, at South Carolina).

By taking the series at South Carolina this past weekend, MSU achieved its first series victory in Columbia, South Carolina, since 1998, and the first series win vs. the Gamecocks since 2015.

South Alabama (21-15) is coming off a 4-3 victory against Sun Belt Conference rival No. 26 Coastal Carolina on Sunday. The win helped the Jaguars improve to 10-5 in the Sun Belt Conference, right behind the Chanticleers, who are 10-4-1 and leading th East Division.

South Alabama is 9-3 this season at home. Former New Hope High School standout Wells Davis, a first baseman, is hitting .268 with four home runs and 25 RBIs in 32 games for the Jaguars.

MSU, which leads the all-time series 46-25, defeated South Alabama 2-0 on March 10 and 8-6 on March 12. MSU will try for its first victory against South Alabama in Mobile since 2013.

MSU will play host to Alabama at 6 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network) in Game 1 of a three-game SEC weekend series.

n Softball team will take on Alcorn State: At Lorman, the Mississippi State softball team (31-14) will take on Alcorn State (15-24) at 3 p.m. today in its final non-conference game of the season at the Alcorn Softball Complex.

MSU leads the series 5-0. This will be the second meeting between the schools in the Vann Stuedeman era. Last season, MSU earned a 8-0 victory in five innings in Starkville.

MSU will try to keep momentum rolling after winning back-to-back SEC series against South Carolina on Super Bulldog Weekend and then-No. 19 Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Senior Caroline Seitz is coming off a weekend in which she went 7-for-10 with 14 RBIs and four home runs (two grand slams). She also scored four runs and had a 1.900 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. She became the first in school history to hit four home runs in an SEC weekend series, and the first Bulldog since Mackenzie Toler (May 2, 2015 at South Carolina) to hit two home runs in a game.

MSU will play host to Arkansas this weekend. Game 1 of the three-game SEC series will be at 5 p.m. Saturday. All three games will be nationally televised on the SEC Network.

n Road Dawgs Tour to feature four stops, begins April 26: At Starkville, the Mississippi State Road Dawgs Tour, featuring athletic department officials and coaches, will kick off a four-stop tour Wednesday, April 26, in Biloxi.

The annual event is a collaboration by the MSU Bulldog Club, MSU Alumni Association, and local alumni chapters. MSU football coach Dan Mullen, men's basketball coach Ben Howland, and women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer as well as MSU Director of Athletics John Cohen will make appearances. The Golden Egg trophy as well as the NCAA Final Four regional championship trophy will be on hand at each stop.

Fans in attendance using social media are encouraged to use the hashtag #RoadDawgs2017 when posting their images.

The tour will kick off next week at the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum, 115 East 1st Street in Biloxi. Hosted by the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter, the event will kick off with a 6 p.m. social and buffet and feature a program that begins at 7 p.m. Cohen, Howland, Schaefer, and Mullen will attend. To RSVP, contact CoastDawgs@gmail.com or Jeff Ellis 228-697-4347 or Jade Ferguson 601-503-4217.

The tour will move to Southaven on Thursday, April 27. Hosted by the DeSoto County Chapter, the event at the Cherokee Valley Golf Club on 6635 Crumpler Blvd. in Olive Branch will feature an 11:30 a.m. social and buffet and a noon program. Cohen, Howland, Schaefer, and Mullen will attend. To RSVP, contact Jonathan Bridges (662-892-1621 or jonathan.bridges@bxs.com) or Randy Allen (662-892-1645 or randy.allen@bxs.com).

Later Thursday, April 27, the tour will move on to Greenville for an event at the Greenville Country Club (2476 Hwy. 1 South) hosted by Washington County Chapter. The event will feature a 6 p.m. social and buffet and a 7 p.m. program. Cohen, Howland, Schaefer, and Mullen will attend.

The tour will wrap up Tuesday, May 16, at Iron City Grill in Birmingham, Alabama. Hosted by the Birmingham Chapter, doors will open at 6 p.m. The program will begin at 7 p.m. Cohen and Mullen will be in attendance.

The 40th annual Central Mississippi Chapter Summer Extravaganza will be Tuesday, July 18, at the Mississippi Trade Mart on 1207 Street in Jackson. Admission is $10 for adults and free for all students and children, including MSU students. For more information on the Summer Extravaganza, go to alumni.msstate.edu.